What Language is That?

A little while ago I was walking out of one of my favorite restaurants. I observed a young girl get out of the car in front of me. Her eyes were glued to her cell phone. She was texting. From the car to the front door and back again she only looked up to check the hours of operation for the restaurant. It occurred to me once again why I am not a phone person. If she had been involved in the world around her long enough she might of realized she could of asked me the restaurants hours. Since I had just eaten there it would have been worth a shot right? The thing is I do not think she ever even saw me.

As I said I am not a phone person. My phone calls tend to last less than two minutes. I did not own a cell phone until 2004. So it is no surprise that I am not into texting either. Why would I spend thirty minutes texting back and forth when I can settle the same conversation in less than two minutes? I have found uses for sending text messages. Sending things like “on my way,” when I get out of class. Sometimes I just need the answer to a simple question. Maybe I need a friend's address. If they text it to me a have a record of it. I am less likely to lose the information. There are times I will get a forward, the slightly amusing picture message and so on. There is a genuine use for long distance. It may not be convenient to talk when you are separated by several time zones. In this case you may not need a quick response, but sitting down over a cold beverage is impossible. Beyond that I can't see wearing out my thumbs.

I know there is a whole new abbreviated language now. Remembering what it all means is beyond my capacity to care. I will get a message and I don't know what they said. So I ignore it until they clarify. If it is that important you can spell it out. Most of the time it can wait until a face to face encounter.
My biggest problem with texting, besides texting and driving (for obvious reasons), is when people use it in a conversation. You hear someone say something and then they go “LOL.” The other most common one being “JK.” Then you have that person who actually talks like they are sending a message. “Yup. He didin. LOL. AAF I saw him today.”

I see no problem with using text messaging in moderation. For some people it is like an addiction. I feel only slightly horrible to say that I find the look on their face funny when they check their phone and there is no message. Then they keep checking every two minutes like they can not believe the other person has not responded yet. It makes me chuckle. So does being there to witness someone walk into a pole because they were staring at a screen. Next time you leave a class, watch how many people immediately flip out their phone and start texting.